Legacy Power Morpher

Review by Jmann

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers is a show that may have had more impact on children's entertainment than any other show in history. It completely redefined what American children watched on Saturday mornings and left a Legacy that is unmatched even to this day. If you were a child of the 90's, you watched Power Rangers (you know, unless your parents deemed it too violent for some reason) and probably remember it fondly despite the absolute cheese of the show. This year is the 20th Anniversary of the show's creation, so Bandai has been releasing several products under the "Power Rangers 20" banner, not least of which is the Legacy Power Morpher!

The Power Morpher is the object the Rangers used to transform in the first three seasons of the TV Show. It has been faithfully recreated with diecast to match the look of the show and also to fit into an adult collector's hand. I actually found it funny that they completely remade the Morpher instead of releasing a diecast version of the original from 1993, especially since they actually used the toys as props in the show. 

To see all the electronics and stuff in motion, check out the video review below!

Alright! Let's dive in with this thing! As some of you may recall, I don't really talk about packaging since it's usually not important, but I feel that it is necessary to talk about here. The packaging is reminiscent of the original MMPR packaging from the early 90's complete with gold-leaf print and green lightning everywhere else.

I talked about how much I loved this packaging during the video portion of my Legacy Megazord review, so I don't want to waste precious time relating my love for the box. You know, even though I totally just did.

Opening up the box for the first time, you are greeted to the Morpher and all five Dino Power Coins. You may notice that it does not come with the Dragonzord Coin. The main reason for this is that Tommy's Morpher in the show was gold instead of silver so it wouldn't make sense to have his Power Coin in a silver Morpher.

You are also given a holster for the Power Morpher so you can wear it around on your belt and look like a really cool guy. Trust me, I wore it out in public on many occasions and everyone thought I was cool and totally not lame. You can also put the Morpher in facing the front, but I wouldn't wear it like that since it won't lock in correctly. It's only for display purposes.

Looking at the Morpher and Coins, you can see just how much love was put into this thing. The silver plates on the Morpher are diecast, as well as the handle. There is just so much heft to this piece that it is ridiculous. I definitely felt that I got my money's worth from this guy.

There is a lot of sculpted detail on the back of the Morpher. From the raised "Z" to the swirly bits around it, this thing looks fantastic! I only have two gripes with the back. The battery plate really stands out since most of the sculpt work is missing on it, in favor of a battery message. I really wish they would have taken the battery information and put it on the underside of the morpher where no one would really see it. It really breaks up what would be an amazing backplate. 

My second gripe is the screwhole placement on the bottom of the backplate. There is a sticker that is placed on top of it, and I'm terrified that it'll break one day. I really wish they would have either moved that screw or left it out entirely. 

The Power Coins are probably one of the best parts about this set. They are all diecast and the sculpting and paint detail is Morphenomenal! The Coins are weathered and feel great in your hand. I also really like the mechanism for popping them in place. You just set them inside the Morpher until they click into place, and you press the "Z" on the back of it to release them. It works great and the Coins are held in place really well. 

Also, there is a Power Rangers logo on the back so they aren't blank like the original Power Coins. I really love that! Alright, since I know many of you out there would like to see all the Power Coins in their full glory, here is a bunch of shots of the Coins in pornographic detail.

Aaaaaand we're back! One of the selling points of this Morpher is the electronics. When you turn the morpher on, you are greeted to the communicator alarm sound!

From then on you can hold the side button down to hear buzzing sounds and the THEME SONG! That's right, you can hold the button down and listen to the theme song as you pretend to morph! That is such a great feature, and if you would like to see it in action, feel free to watch the video review up top!

Before I give my final thoughts, I'd like to leave you a small gallery of comparison shots with the Legacy Morpher and the original 1993 Power Morpher. For the sake of full transparency, I did modify my original Morpher slightly. I replaced the stickers with TV accurate versions, and the Power Coin is actually a diecast reproduction from Starlight Studios. It still gives a good comparison on what to expect from both versions of the Morpher.

So here we are at the end of our Legacy Morpher journey. I absolutely LOVE this Morpher. In my opinion, it is the definitive Power Rangers collectible and every fan of the show should own one. Even someone with only a passing interest in Power Rangers can respect and enjoy this fine piece of diecast glory! The amazing things that this Morpher offers far outweigh the few negative points it has. Please, if you see this in a store, you need to own it. End of story.